BENINDY: We will continue to live in hope and in righteous anger, with courage, with long- and short-range planning and with a persistence faithful to the constitution, to those we love and to our moral convictions…
The Benicia Independent joins the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in this hopeful message
In case you had any doubt, we are the American Civil Liberties Union. And we’re not moving to Canada.
So, rest assured that when you target immigrants, dissidents, and your political opponents – we will challenge you in the courts, at state legislatures, and in the streets.
Surely, you remember the landmark lawsuits we won against you on family separation, the U.S. Census, and immigrants’ rights – some of which were decided by judges you appointed.
During your last presidency, we brought 434 legal actions, including 250 lawsuits against your administration’s anti-civil liberties agenda.
We also mobilized the power of our more than 1 million card-carrying members into the streets, at airports, and in state capitals.
We’ve developed a comprehensive roadmap to defend our rights beginning on day one. We’re not new to this.
At the ACLU, we play the long game. We’ve been around for 105 years and seen 19 presidents come and go.
That’s why any attempt to roll back the nation’s civil liberties on our watch will be hard fought and met with the full power of our resistance.
Steadfast and determined to make ours a more perfect union, we remain,
The Solano County Registrar of Voters released Unofficial Results as of 10:43 PM on election day. As of that time, estimated unprocessed ballots still to count: Est. 76,500. Note that the ROV can still receive valid ballots by mail until November 12th, if postmarked by Election Day. Following are Benicia results:
Janny Manasse 62.9%, Kashanna Harmon-Lee 37.1%Steve Young 65.7%, Kevin Kirby 34.3%
Measure F: 61.8% yes, 38.2% no. Measure G: 53.6% no, 46.4% yes. Measure H: 58.2% no, 41.8% yes.
MAGA MORNING. Here are four poems, sharing my first thoughts and struggles with this morning’s news. How are you coping with the return to power of the Donald and his backers? See also “Looking Forward” below. – Roger Straw
MORNING AFTER (6:29 AM)
I don’t want to know.
Don’t tell me.
Dread in the morning.
I can’t sleep.
All indications we have arrived at a Fascist era,
The election all but called,
I turn off the tv.
I can’t bear to look.
Don’t tell me.
I don’t want to know.
MORE TRUMP (7:19 AM)
Sympathy doesn’t heal
Encouragement isn’t enough
How will we live in a Fascist state?
ON THE NEWS (7:32 AM)
On the news of Trump’s return
My sister in Canada sent a single word, Sad.
I replied,
Devastating.
Don’t know what to do.
Afraid.
I woke up uninformed but suspicious of the outcome
We couldn’t bear to stay awake for the tv analyses
The endless parsing of Lackawanna County
And comparisons of turnout and margins in years past
We shut off the tv and went to bed.
To bed not pretending, just not ready to deal
To bed
Maybe that’s the only place of security
In the face of impending doom.
On the news of Trump’s return
And even more so,
On the news of our nation’s willing descent into the pit of Fascism
Of my neighbor’s Take Us Back flag, victorious,
Of the loss of the all-important US Senate,
Of the marginal swing of the US House,
Of 4 more years of Presidential pouting
And posturing
And attack
And race baiting
And outright racism and misogyny and homophobia
Of losses to come, losses without number
Of dark days…
On such news, it’s hard to summon courage
To bed is not secure, to bed where dreams will tell the truth
Truth spoken, not to power, but to the darkness
Into the void we go.
The swirl, the black hole.
Tell me there’s more.
WAKE-UP CALL (8:08 AM)
Ok, so life goes on.
On the morning after we learned the truth,
The truth that we are still and again the United States of White Men,
The truth that even the threat of dictatorial power and criminality
Can’t override the fundamental fear of gender parity,
Can’t overcome the reality of racism,
On this morning after,
After our shock,
After our disbelief,
After all the twists and turns of the five stages of grief,
Life goes on.
So where does life go?
When life goes on in a turned-back America,
When life continues under fascist power,
When life plows ahead regardless…
Where is our Dr. King?
Where is our Susan B. Anthony?
Who will wake the nation?
Who will organize on campuses
And call the People to demonstrate
A vision of freedom and goodness and light?
A wake-up call
On the morning of our nation’s backslide
On the morning of the reaffirmation of sexism and white supremacy
On November 6, 2024
A wake-up call.
Who will wake us up, America?
[The BenIndy received two submissions recently that warranted juxtaposition given the shared topic, timing, and connection between the authors. While independently crafted, these op-eds offer complementary perspectives.]
When I turned 18, my father drove me to the polls and insisted I vote the way he wanted me to vote. I believed him when he said he could find out how I voted. I later learned that all votes are private. Today, I regret that I gave away my vote out ofunfounded fear.
Now, recently on Fox News, some pastors are telling women it’s their duty to vote as their husbands wish! In the US, we are fortunate to have the right to vote, unlike some countries where there is no choice.
America is and has always been a nation of immigrants. Our history is of people fleeing a dictatorship. Meanwhile, Trump admires the dictators Putin, Orban and – it was recently revealed – Hitler. When individuals or the press disagree with a dictator, they are threatened with retribution and violence. A dictator’s playbook is to keep people frightened and uninformed and to demonize innocent individuals.
Some brush Trump off with, “Oh that’s just Trump being Trump.” No, he is telling us what his is going to do. Project 2025 will gut funding for education, Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act and much more. High tariffs will hurt consumers, who will be forced to pay more.
Trump’s wife is an immigrant. Some hardliners would consider Elon Musk an illegal immigrant. Yet they both demonize even legal immigrants and those who look or live differently. Christian core values are to love thy neighbor and to forgive others who have wronged you.
(From L) Plaintiffs Damla Karsan, Austin Dennard, Samantha Casiano, Taylor Edwards, Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane and Amanda Zurawski attend a press conference outside the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas on July 20, 2023. A Texas state court will hear arguments from both sides in Zurawski v. State of Texas, a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of thirteen Texas women denied abortions despite serious pregnancy complications. | Photo by Suzanne Cordeiro for AP via Getty Images.
The Republican party used to stand for small government; now it is co-opted to track women’s health decisions. I hope you will consider all that is at stake in this election, not just that food prices are too high, or because you are angry and want change.
Democrats are not perfect, there is much to improve. If your car breaks down, you fix it. Democracy needs fixing, but we don’t burn down the whole government.
Did you know that Elon Musk has warned citizens to expect “temporary hardships” as he plans to cut $2 trillion from the federal government?He can afford temporary hardships, can you?
I am not telling you how to vote. We are all in news silos, hearing only what we want to hear.Considering all the above, vote for the outcome you want for you, your family and the future of democracy. I am writing this to have no regrets before the most important election of my lifetime.
Don’t Freak Out! Five Reasons – Starting with Women – Why Harris Wins
Benicia resident and author Stephen Golub, A Promised Land
By Stephen Golub, November 3, 2024, originally published on A Promised Land
Are you a Harris supporter stressed about the election? Me too.
Let’s not panic, though. Kamala’s (probably) got this. I’ve got five reasons why.
But first, you can start de-stressing by watching the Saturday Night Live clip above, especially commencing at the 5:45 mark.
In fact, the margins could prove even larger this year due to greater motivation and thus turnout by women: Many wise pro-Harris women are standing up for their rights; many macho pro-Trump men are simply standing up for supposedly standing tall. Pro-Harris fires could be fueled by the Supreme Court’s anti-abortion Dobbs decision, pro-abortion ballot measures (including in swing states Arizona and Nevada), Trump’s ever-more-misogynistic rhetoric and (though she’s downplayed this) Harris’s trailblazing status.
A recent Gallup poll found that more Democrats (77 percent) are enthusiastic about voting than Republicans (67 percent) are. Another survey detected a similar 10 percent edge for Harris versus Trump supporters regarding feeling angry if their candidate loses. Enthusiasm and potential anger don’t necessarily turn into votes, but that underlying passion might still help.
3. The Puerto Rican Gap
Don’t underestimate the anti-Trump impact of the idiotic comedian who slammed Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” (while making a slew of other racist remarks) at Trump’s recent New York rally. This could well infuriate many Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania (which has almost 300,000) and other swing states. It certainly spurred superstar recording artist Bad Bunny to back Harris, making him part of the wave of Puerto Rican stars who reached out to over 340 million Instagram followers to show similar support after the rally.
4. The Momentum Gap
After a rough patch during which Trump seemed to be inching up, Kamala is regaining momentum in myriad ways. The final New York Times poll shows Harris up in four swing states, virtually tied in two and behind in one. A respected Iowa pollster’s survey showing Harris ahead there could combine with other recent poll results to be a harbinger for demographically similar swing states, even if Kamala (likely) loses Iowa itself. Survey results, including from Pennsylvania, indicate that she’s shrinking or even reversing Trump’s edge on the economy. And as I’ve already indicated, the fact that women are turning out much more than men in the early voting, with arguably much greater motivation to do so, could prove pivotal.
Now, what about all of those polls showing Trump tightening the race? For one thing, as I’ve noted, some recent surveys hold good news for Harris. But in addition, polling today involves so many subjective judgments by the even the best pollsters that the science is suspect. While this could work out to Trump’s benefit as much as Harris’s, it’s a reason to take surveys – and even averages across surveys – with a grain of salt.
In a development that’s gotten little press attention, Harris may benefit from an allied political action committee pouring up to $700 million into ads, social media posts and other messaging down the stretch, employing an unprecedented (though admittedly unproven), rigorous process for testing individual messages’ efficacy.
Speaking of GOTV: I’m told that Kamala’s campaign knocked on 2.7 million doors last weekend alone. Even at this late date, you can go to the Harris campaign’s volunteer site, including to sign up to call voters in swing states. Having just done this, I’ll say that it’s far easier to do than it looks at first on the site. And bear in mind that even one persuaded or mobilized pro-Harris voter per two-hour shift can prove crucial when multiplied by volunteers’ millions of calls.
It’s not too late to act. As Coach Walz explains, “We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”
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